Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of devices for controlling the barking of dogs. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus which discourages a particular dog within a group from barking in response to other dogs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most people know the problems associated with controlling the barking of a dog. Dogs naturally bark for many reasons such as to signal other dogs, to define their territory, to communicate excitement or fear, and to warn prior to an attack. The phenomenon of group barking occurs when a number of dogs bark in response to one another. This problem is exacerbated in areas where a large number of dogs are held in close confinement, such as in a kennel.
Remote and automatic systems using various trigger mechanisms have been developed to control the barking of a dog. There are three main classifications of systems, differentiated by the input devices and signal processing techniques: the microphone input class, the piezoelectric input class, and the bark comparator class.
Systems utilizing a microphone input are typically the most reliable for discriminating between a bark sound and other false signals. However, to maintain this reliability, the microphone must be kept clear of debris. Additionally, microphone input systems are typically larger, more expensive, and use more power than other systems. Furthermore, microphone input systems are less weather resistant than other systems. Because these systems rely on sound volume, sounds from other animals and environment noises may inadvertently trigger the system.
Piezoelectric input systems are triggered by vibration and are smaller, cheaper, and use less power than other systems. However, the lack of sensitivity in the piezoelectric input results in a high false trigger rate and a low repeatability rate. Receiving a corrective signal as a result of a false trigger confuses the dog and hampers effective training.
Presently available bark comparator systems implement one of the above mentioned input devices coupled with a discrimination circuit which compares a previously recorded bark with the new sound. Accordingly, presently available bark comparator systems suffer from difficulty in getting a good sample for comparison and are not consistent in the application of the discrimination solution. Furthermore, dogs tend to have different barks for different occasions which makes meaningful comparison against the stored sample difficult.
The prior art lacks a system for controlling the barking of a dog which can be used at all times of the day, without the need for human monitoring. Further, none of the prior art devices filter extraneous noises and only apply a corrective stimulus when the particular dog barks in such a way as to trigger the system.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for controlling the barking of a dog.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a system for controlling the barking of a particular dog within a group of dogs.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system for deterring other dogs within a group of dogs from barking in response to the barking of another dog within the group.
An apparatus for controlling the barking of dogs in a group setting, or group bark control apparatus, and a method for use is designed to discourage dogs in a group setting from group barking by providing a selected deterrent stimulus, generally a warning, to each dog if any dog barks and a selected deterrent stimulus, generally a correction, to each dog which barks. When a first dog wearing a group bark control apparatus begins to bark, an appropriate deterrent is applied in response to the bark. The group bark control apparatus also activates an transmitter to broadcast a deterrent request signal to other group bark control apparatuses within the broadcast range of the transmitter. An internal receivers detects the deterrent signal request which is passed to a controller for processing. The controller activates the deterrent stimulus generator to apply the appropriate deterrent stimulus to the non-barking dogs which are not currently barking. By preemptively correcting the non-barking dogs in response to the barking of the first dog, the phenomenon known as group barking is hereby avoided.